Hair curler



Sept. 22, 1970 J. K. MATES 3,529,608

HAIR CURLER Filed July 19, 1968 IINYENTOR, JACK 'K. MATES ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,529,608 HAIR CURLER Jack K. Mates, Scarsdale, N.Y., assignor to American Velcro, Inc., Manchester, N.H., a corporation of New Hampshire Filed July 19, 1968, Ser. No. 746,074

' Int. Cl. Atlld 2/14 US. Cl. 132--40 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hair curler having a cylindrical body member with a smooth contoured outer surface along its major circumferential surface area of the type intended to be rolled into hair so that the hair is retained wound around the outer surface of the curler. A tape member is secured in longitudinal relationship on the outer surface of the body member and has numerous closely spaced upstanding hooking elements on its outer surface which are configured to engage the ends of hairs upon starting to roll the curler into the hair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to hair curlers of the type designed to be rolled into the hair to retain the hair wound about the curler and, more particularly, it relates to a a hair curler of this type which has means for retaining the hair in place on the curler upon starting to roll the curler into the hair.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Hair curlers sudn as those disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,123,080 have been provided with specially configured upstanding bristles for engaging a rolled layer of hair against the body of the curler. These bristles extended entirely around the circumference of the curler body, along the entire circumference, or at least along circumferential portions of the elongated curler body. In commercial practice the bristles were provided along the entire circumfernetial area as this was essential in order to obtain the hooking of the hair onto the body of the curler without use of separate hairpins or the like.

For many hair settings, however, smooth cylindrical curlers of various types are preferred. Some difficulty has been encountered when using these cylindrical curlers because of the difficulty in securing the hair ends to the curler when starting to wind the hair onto the curler. This problem is solved by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF II-IE INVENTION It is a characteristic of this invention to provide a curler in which the major circumferential area is characterized by a smooth contoured outer surface so that the hair wound about the curler can be wound tightly about this smooth outer surface to prevent crimping of the hair during setting. This is realized in the present invention by a hair curler which includes an elongated cylindrical body member having a smooth contoured outer surface along its major circumferential area and a tape member secured to the outer surface of the body member and extending longitudinally with respect to the body member. The tape member has numerous closely spaced upstanding hooking elements on its outer surface which hooking elements are configured to engage and hold the ends of hairs upon starting to roll the curlers into the hair. It is preferred that the tape member be set in a longitudinal recess formed in the body member to provide a continuous cylindrical surface to the hair wound thereon.

By means of the present invention the ends of the 3,529,608 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hair curler of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the hair curler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2', and

FIG. 4 is a section on a large scale showing the hooking elements on the curler body.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT According to FIG. 1 the present invention includes a generally cylindrical elongated body member 10 on which is attached a narrow tape member 11. The body member 10 is preferably extruded from a rigid plastic material and it is preferred that it have the cross-sectional configuration shown in FIG. 3 wherein a narrow portion .12 along the entire length of the body is convoluted inwardly to provide a longitudinal recess 13 along the entire length of the body.

The tape member 11 is preferably formed as described in US. Pats. Nos. 2,717,437 and 3,009,235 wherein one member has raised upstanding loops of a synthetic material which are cut near their outer extremities, as shown in FIG. 4, to form hooks 15. The tape member is positioned in the recess and adhesively secured to the cylindrical body member 10. Preferably the ends of the tape member are coextensive with the ends of the curler body. The curler body in this embodiment is also provided with small openings .14 suitably spaced to receive standard hairpins for holding the hair curler close to the head when the hair is wound in place on the curler body.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the advantage of recessing the tape member in the curler body is that while it provides initial attachment of the hair ends to the curler body for ease of starting, as shown in FIG. 1, continued winding of the hair onto the body will cause the hair to be tightly engaged against the smooth cylindrical contour defined by the major circumferential area of the cylindrical body and there is less likelihood of crimping of the hair during rolling. Yet most of the hair ends will be held tightly onto the smooth cylindrical body and the effect will be a tighter winding of the hair onto the body than can be realized with a cylindrical body member alone.

I claim:

1. A hair curler of the type including an elongated cylindrical body member having a smooth contoured outer surface, the improvement in combination therewith comprising a substantially planar longitudinal recess defining a minor portion of the outer circumferential surface of the body member; and an elongated tape member secured to and extending along the planar, longitudinal recessed portion of the outer circumferential surface of the body member, the tape member including a plurality of closely-spaced, upstanding hooking elements of flexible resilient material; the hooking elements engaging and holding ends of hair to be rolled about the curler, and the curler body providing a continuous, substantially cylindrical surface about which hair may be rolled tightly without crimping.

2. A hair curler according to claim '1 wherein the ends of the tape member are coextensive with the ends of the cylindrical body.

3. A hair curler according to claim 1 wherein the body of the curler is provided with small openings sized 3 4 to receive hairpins for holding the curler in place after FOREIGN PATENTS rolling.

4. A hair curler according to claim 1 wherein the 1283100 3/1961 Franca upstanding hooking elements are formed from flexible 6:271 3/1895 Great loops out along one side to provide hooks.

5 LOU IS G. MANOENE, Primary Examiner References Cited J. N. ESKOVITZ, Asslstant 'Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,446,722 8/1948 Rust 132-40 2,450,5 421 10/1948 Eppich 132-40 10 

